Dent puller

ABSTRACT

Repairing dents as in automobile bodies through the use of a tool having an appliance to underlie the dent approximately at the center thereof and to withdraw the dent to its approximate original location by means of a hand operated tool including a rod retracting the material of the dent in increments, retraction of the rod being inhibited by a cockable washer. The provision of extra wide detachable legs for straddling the dents so that larger dents can be processed, said legs being mounted on a bracket which holds the rod.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the repair of dents e.g. automobile bodies, doors, etc., it is thepractice to make a hole in the dent at approximately the center thereof,inserting an appliance underneath the material surrounding the holeformed, said appliance being at the end of a rod or the like, and thenusing a hammer or mallet to retract the rod to retract the material ofthe dent to its more or less original position. This requires the use ofa certain degree of skill which can only be acquired through usage; andit is the object of the present invention to provide a new and usefuldent puller which requires a minimum of skill and learning time in whichto operate the same by retracting the dent puller rod by supporting thedent puller rod in a position surrounding the dent and using controlledmeans for retracting the dent puller rod in increments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A dent puller rod is provided which is slidably mounted on a U-shapedbracket the operative end of the rod being located between the legs ofthe bracket and having detachably mounted at its end means forpuncturing and underlying the material of the dent adjacent the centerthereof, together with means under manual control for retracting thedent puller rod in certain controlled increments so that the skillrequired by the prior art is greatly lessened, the pulling of the dentby means of the new dent puller being almost automatic. The rod isprevented from being retracted by a cockable washer.

The invention also contemplates the use of magnetic legs attached to theends of the legs of the U-shaped bracket and diverging from each otherto straddle a much larger dent than is possible merely with the U-shapedbracket alone. Where the dent is small the additional legs are notnecessary but where the dent is a larger one which is usually the casethe additional legs can be easily attached to the dent puller rodbracket in order to straddle the larger dent and render it much easierto pull out. The magnetic legs anchor the device to the car body in theregion of the dent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation illustrating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation thereof;

FIG. 3 illustrates an appliance for insertion at the bottom of the dent;

FIG. 4 is a plan view partly in section looking in the direction ofarrow 4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a variation of the apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an end view thereof looking in the direction of arrow 6 inFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the cockable washer employed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view thereof; and

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate a modification.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1 the surface material of a vehicle is indicated at 10having a dent 12 therein. A dent puller rod 14 is provided with adetachable appliance 16. As is well-known, a hole 18 is formed in thegeneral center of the dent and the dent puller rod 14 with a screw atthe end thereof or the angled appliance 16 is engaged in the hole insuch a way that upon pulling upon the handle of the rod at 20 or hittingthe same with a mallet the dent is pulled up and back towards itsoriginal position shown in dotted line 22, whereupon the surface of thematerial is refinished also all is well-known.

In the present case a U-shaped bracket having the legs 24,24 is used tosupport a piston and cylinder of well-known construction and indicatedgenerally at 26 for the purpose of retracting the rod under theinfluence of air under pressure supplied through a hose 28, therebeinganother hose 30 going to a source of air under pressure. A normallyclosed valve 32 is provided with a valve actuator 34 operated by amanually operated handle 36 so that the operator conveniently squeezesthe handle for a short interval of time causing the piston to retract insmall increments so that the exact original position 22 is easilyprovided, rather than guessed at, as for instance in the prior art,where the rod 14 is retracted either manually or by the use of a mallet.

In order to keep the rod 14 from slipping downwardly, a one way cockablewasher 40 is provided surrounding rod 14 in the upper area thereof whichis indicated at 42 in FIG. 1. This washer is provided with a built uparea 44 impinging on a abutment 46 on the head 48 of the air cylinder.This washer lifts with each increment of lifting of the rod 42 but fallsback cocked in such a way as to grip opposite side edges of the rod 42and hold it in its elevated position.

It will be seen that the increments are under control of the operatorbut the rod itself is under control of the air cylinder not under manualcontrol thereof which would require skill in the operation thereof, sothat the precise position desired in repairing the dent can be easilyachieved by less skillful operators merely by operating the valve handle36 at intervals.

Ordinarily the legs 24,24 of the bracket supporting the air cylinder arespaced apart enough to process a small dent but where larger dents suchas in FIG. 1 are present, the invention provides extension legs whichdiverge to straddle the large dent.

The bracket legs 24,24 have T-head terminations or feet 50 upon whichare slidably mounted channel members 52 of brackets 54 pivotallymounting as at 56 the extension legs 58,58. These extension legs limitedin spread and held at the angle shown by the bracket rearfaces 60,60 andat their lower ends terminate in pivoted magnetic feet 62,62 whichposition the entire apparatus firmly at a desired location.

Reference numerals 64 indicate manually operated screws for positioningthe legs and the legs themselves may be telescopic as illustrated at 66with holes 68 showing the different degrees of adjustment thereof. Ofcourse the further out the telescopic legs 66 extend the wider apartwill be the magnetic feet 62.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an improved puller appliance comprising a bar 70having spaced apart L-shaped puller members 72,72, the bar being securedby a screw and nut 74 and each L-shaped puller member 72 extendingthrough separate spaced holes 76,76 in the material of the dent 78. Thepuller members 72,72 are adjustably mounted in slots 80.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a V-shaped angle 82 having dent pullers 84 adjustablymounted therein as in FIG. 4, this appliance being especially adaptedfor processing sharper creases which often happen in scraping accidentswhere the dent is not merely a pushed in circular member as happens froma sharp blow.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate a modification wherein an adjustable typepliers 88 serves to raise an abutment 90 fixed to the rod 14' therebyraising the rod in increments as before. The cockable washer 40' acts asabove described, finding a stop at the top edge of a ferrule 92 on thearched bracket 24'. Otherwise all the parts are the same as in FIGS. 1and 2 and operate in the same way.

I claim:
 1. A dent puller comprising an inverted solid single U-shapedbracket, said bracket including legs, means on said bracket midwaybetween the legs of the U, for holding a slidable dent puller rodthereon, said dent puller rod extending through said bracket and havinga handle at one end and a dent puller tool at the opposite endthereof,mechanical means for retracting said dent puller by increments,and a cockable washer on said rod automatically acting to prevent motionof the dent puller rod in the opposite direction, said mechanical meansfor moving said dent puller rod in increments being under control of theoperator, a pair of separate extension legs, means on each leg of theU-shaped bracket to receive and detachably hold one of said extensionlegs, said extension legs diverging and being adapted to straddle alarger dent than could be straddled by the U-shaped bracket, meansmounted said extension legs relative to the respective bracket leg forpivotal motion thereon, and means restraining said pivotal motion in adirection separating the extension legs.
 2. The dent puller of claim 1wherein said extension legs are telescopic and including means forholding the same in adjusted position.
 3. The dent puller of claim 1wherein the means for moving the rod in increments include means formanually controlling the same.
 4. The dent puller of claim 3 whereinsaid means includes air under pressure, and a normally closed valvetherefor together with means for selectively opening said valves.
 5. Thedent puller according to claim 1 wherein the means on the legs of theU-shaped bracket to receive and detachably hold the extension legscomprises inverted T-shaped members and including undercut means on theextension legs for sliding over the T-shaped heads for attachmentthereto.